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Doctors: Kick-Start Your New Year With These 7 Work/Life Balance Tips

As a doctor, it’s not unusual for you to work up to 60 hours per week. That’s a lot of time dedicated to your career and taken away from your personal life. This New Year, it’s a good idea to make an extra effort to properly balance the two. You’ll find it may bring you less anxiety, better sleep, healthier relationships and more. You just might become a better doctor, too.

Finding the right work/life balance in 2016 doesn’t have to be difficult. Here are some modest, attainable tips you can implement this year:

Leave it at the office.
Save five minutes at the end of every workday. Take a pen and paper and write down anything that happened that day that irritated you. Did you make a mistake? Did a patient act disrespectful towards you? No matter what it is, write it down and leave it on that notepad, not in your head. Walk out the door and forget about it.

Use your vacation days (and don’t feel guilty about it!)
Everyone needs time off work to reset and recharge – yes, even doctors. The best way you can make an effort to use your vacation days is to regularly schedule them in a consistent way. This will allow patients and staff to get into a habit of knowing exactly when you’ll be off work. Setting expectations is key.

Get your mind off medicine.
When you go out with friends, family or colleagues on your days off, try to avoid talking about medicine. You need to give your mind a break from constantly thinking/talking about health, and it’ll also remind you that there’s a whole other world out there to explore and talk about.

Be fully present.
Technology is important, especially when you’re in the office. But when you’re not, make sure you’re present with the people around you. Turn the smartphone and tablet off. Close the laptop. Find something else to do that doesn’t involve technology. Or better yet, simply have a conversation. You will be more appreciative of your personal life (and your relationships) if you’re fully savoring the moment.

Outsource what you can.
You work more than the average person, so it’s understandable if you can’t get all of your yardwork, housework or other chores done. If it doesn’t require your medical degree, consider outsourcing it so you can spend less time doing chores and more time enjoying life with your loved ones.

Break the weekend work habit.
Do you often go into work on the weekends to “get caught up?” Well, how is that going? It’s rare to ever get caught up when you’re using the weekends (or your other down time) to do it. Try to break the habit this year. Share this with your loved ones and let them hold you accountable. You deserve to have a healthy amount of time spent away from the office.

Remember that some days will be better than others.
Finding that perfect work/life balance is a process – it doesn’t happen overnight. You will fail, but you will also succeed. You will have days that are more balanced than others. That’s okay – just remember to keep going, keep your eye on the end goal and always be willing to make adjustments as needed.

Being a top doctor is difficult. If it were easy, everyone would do it. However, it’s important to find the right work/life balance so you can be the best doctor – and person – you can be.